@Rick, China Mobile has made it clear, since the first time when they announced the TD-LTE rollout, new chips that go inside a China Mobile handset supporting TD-LTE must be multi-mode, multi-standards; meaning it has to support everything from 2G, 2.5G, 3G, TD-SCDMA, TD-LTE and any other variants. China Mobile is very ambitious to make the next-gen handset truly global.

I heard at the ;launch Apple announced a deal to be used on Japan's DoCoMo net but not China Mobile asd of Sept. 10.

As for TD-SCDMA: This was a disappointment, hardly used outside China. China was much more proactoive and savvy with TD-LTE as a global standard used in many other countries so easier to get sislicon and systems support.

If I were Apple I might jump right from 3G to TD-LTE for China so the 5c may be a brigde product.

@pkandel, yes, I am in full agreement. I am not saying that this won't happen. But I am surprised that they couldn't get the deal done in time. I could easilly imagine the squabble must be in the financial arrangement -- how much for China Mobile to take and how much Apple is willing to go along.

But are there any other roadblocks standing in the way of the impending deal?

Junko, that is indeed probably the main sticking point, though I would not be surprised if China Mobile also wants a slice of app revenue. Also, it is worth pointing out that the Apple/CM negotiations have been ongoing since at least 2009, with periodical rumors about an impending deal.

Look at the flagship phone from Xiaomi. Only RMB 1999 for a gorgeous design, high-spec phone. And high-end phones from other Chinese local competitors, Lenovo, Oppo, Huawei, Meizhu etc. are all in similar price range. And yet Apple insanely priced the supposingly "budget" 5C at RMB 4488. It is not 2007, or 2011, or even 2012. iphone is not the only decent choice on the market.

I heard that the population of China recently reached the 1.4 billion mark. That's a gymongous market opportunity. It makes sense for Apple, and by the way also for the Hollywood studios, to mention two obvious industries, to make that market a primary concern of theirs.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.